If you’re responsible for looking after multiple routers across different geographical areas, maintaining them manually can be excruciating. Keeping Excel spreadsheets with IP addresses, usernames and passwords, details on which router is running which version of software and keeping tabs on unique configurations for each site can drive a network admin insane, not to mention unsecure. Using a central management system gives you a quick and easy dashboard of all your equipment, preventing lapses in updates and reducing the chances of misconfiguration.

DrayTek’s VigorACS SI is a platform for looking after all your DrayTek Vigor routers, modems, VPN devices and Wi-Fi access points in one single, secure location. Some popular examples are companies with many branch outlets (e.g: retail stores, remote sites) or IT support companies (e.g: look after your customer’s routers from your office). For each Vigor device purchased, DrayTek provides a FREE 30-day trial version of VigorACS SI client software. You can consult a dealer near you from: http://www.draytek.com.au/where-to-buy/ for a free trial of VigorACS SI.

One of the key features of VigorACS SI, is to allow an administrator to backup the configuration of each device remotely and even restore configurations to all or specific devices. Never worry about losing device configs ever again. Updating firmware is no longer a tedious task of going into each device one by one and installing the update. With VigorACS SI, you are able to view the firmware status of all your devices from a single page and push out any relevant updates.

Utilising the VPN wizard within VigorACS SI can save you hours of work. Instead of logging in to each device manually and entering the VPN settings on each router, you can simply configure a single VPN instance and replicate that across all your devices. Much less painstaking and less chance of user error, preventing problems.

Reporting is made so much easier, with all sorts of stats available to you. You’re able to see LAN and WAN traffic stats for individual devices or aggregate them across all your sites. Need to view logs? All the logs available on the device itself can now be viewed in a central location and backed up for future reference.

Alarms are an important feature in VigorACS SI, allowing administrators to know instantly when something unusual occurs. If you add the details of an SMS gateway, administrators can receive SMS alerts for urgent items, instead of email alerts. If you have an existing SNMP setup, VigorACS will integrate its alarms and logs into that also.

VigorACS SI also allows different levels of users to administer or carry out actions. For example, you may have a one or two admin users who can do everything, but delegate reporting or viewing logs to junior users. Perfect to prevent a single person becoming too important that if they leave, you face problems looking after your network.

The use of VigorACS SI requires the setup of a server – either Windows or Linux, where the VigorACS SI software can run and TR-069 compatible devices (e.g: DrayTek Vigor routers) can communicate with the server. A valid licence for VigorACS SI is also required. On the router itself, simply visit the TR-069 admin page and enter in the ACS server details.